Red mouth, long embroidered white coat, the Spanish actress, muse of Pedro Almodovar and fashion icon, advanced, concentrated, on the path of a garden before moving the handles in flamenco.
A singer and a guitarist animated this parade on the theme of Andalusia, on the last day of the week of haute couture, an exclusively Parisian event.
“I am very proud of Juana. I have always followed her, I have seen all the effort she has made, all her work, all her talent,” Rossy de Palma told AFP behind the scenes before the start. parade. “Look at this coat, it’s a bomb!”
Embossed leather and Andalusian hat
At 47, Juana Martin is the first Spanish woman to enter the hushed world of haute couture. The one who has worn the colors and know-how of her native Andalusia for 15 years is also the only gypsy woman among this summit of creators.
The collection is almost entirely in black. The silver embossed leathers from Cordoba and massive silver rose-shaped earrings bring him the “light of Andalusia”, Juana Martin explains to AFP.
The profusion of ruffles evokes flamenco dresses but in a subtle way. Asymmetrical cuts and flat shoes shift them and make them modern.
Dresses with sculptural voluminous sleeves rub shoulders with very modern and wearable shift dresses and oversized jackets.
On the catwalk, the Andalusian hats, like the one worn by the designer with a trouser suit, are exaggerated and openwork. One, orange and matched with gloves, brings a touch of color to this open-air parade, in the garden of a Parisian high school.
“It’s a work of many years that has been rewarded,” says Juana Martin, interviewed by AFP on the sidelines of the parade.
Juana Martin is a hard worker. She obtained her ticket to this unique circle in the world by sheer force and by coming, for four years, to present her collections in Paris, in parallel with haute couture week.
“Universal talent”
Only three other Spaniards – Cristobal Balenciaga, Paco Rabanne and Josep Font stood out in haute couture.
Born in Cordoba, in the south of Spain, in 1974, she grew up in a modest environment with a family belonging to the gypsy community. Her father owned tailoring workshops and worked as a street vendor in local markets.
It was in these workshops, where she spent her time as a child, that she was introduced to sewing and learned the intricacies of the trade “in contact with people who worked in the old fashioned way and mainly by hand”, she explained. to AFP in June.
Her career began in 1999 when her collection was selected – out of more than 150 projects – to represent Cordoba in the Spanish competition for young sewing talents.
In 2005, she became the first Andalusian woman of gypsy origin to parade during Madrid Fashion Week.
“It was a dream to hold high the standard of Spain, of Andalusia, of the working woman, of the mother woman, of the woman who fights. It is fundamental for me”, summarizes- she.
“She brings her talent which is universal, but also her roots, her folklore, her traditions. That was missing”, underlines Rossy de Palma, muse of several luxury designers whose appearances never go unnoticed at Parisian parades as on the red carpet. .
“We had to give her what she deserves,” says the actress, who had worn pieces by Juana Martin in Venice and Cannes.
